Mayor Sara: ‘Bikoy’ operation a ‘scam’ from the start

Mayor Sara Duterte yesterday mocked the critics of administration after Peter Joemel Advincula alias “Bikoy” made a complete turnaround and dragged Senator Antonio Trillanes in the alleged plot to oust the President.

Bikoy was the man in the series of videos titled “Ang Totoong Narcolist” which tagged Senator Bong Go, First District Rep. Paolo Duterte, the First Daughter Veronica Duterte, and the mayor’s husband, Mans Carpio as drug protectors.

The first family, along with Go, was reportedly receiving millions in drug payola each month.

“Bikoy is a scam created by people who oppose the Duterte administration. This group is so disorganized they cannot even get to first base because the path to their objective is in disarray,” the mayor said.

“If I were the leader of this group, I will shoot myself in the head, get rid of the brain that is not useful,” she added.

Yesterday, Advincula was accompanied by PNP Director General Oscar Albayalde in a press conference where he tagged not just Trillianes but also senators Risa Hontiveros, Leilan De Lima, among others. The endgame was supposed to be the ouster of President Duterte so Vice President Leni Robredo can take over.

Advincula had several pending warrants of arrest for estafa after he allegedly duped several people of thousands of pesos.

Trillanes, meanwhile, denied the allegations of Advincula.

“This could be another ploy of the Duterte administration to harass the opposition. For now, I will be consulting with my lawyers so that we could also file the appropriate charges against him,” he said in a statement.

The congressman, meanwhile, said the Bikoy videos were fabricated to hurt their chances in the mid-term elections.

“From the very start, it was clear that the Bikoy videos were fabricated with a narrative taken straight from the playbook of people whose desire is to destroy our name and our reputation,” Paolo said.

“All the lies presented were also meant to crush the trust of the Filipino people in the authorities and inspire public disgust against the government — truly the handiwork of people who want to undermine the Duterte administration,” he added.

“Without a doubt, as I have said before, Senator Antonio Trillanes was behind it. And now that many names have also surfaced, to include Sen. Risa Hontiveros and several lawyers, I believe a proper investigation is in order,” he said.

For his part, Go said he wasn’t surprised by the retraction of Advincula because it was a black propaganda from the start.

“While I urge our authorities to respect all the constitutional rights of Bikoy, I must also say that the country needs to know the whole truth. After all, the truth will set us free,” he said.